Over the past few years, the number of new services and features offered over enhanced telephone networks has grown. These enhanced telephone networks are known as "Advanced Intelligent Networks" (AINs). Telephony control networks conforming to AIN architecture contain intelligent subsystems for controlling switched traffic and user services such as call waiting, call forwarding, voice announcements, voice response, keyboard response, etc.. These intelligent subsystems, called "intelligent peripherals" (IP), are configured for specific regional calling services.
Multi-processor systems used as an AIN system are disclosed in the patent application Ser. No. 08/792,018 by Deborah L. Acker and Thomas E. Creamer and assigned to International Business Machines (IBM) and is incorporated herein by reference.
The customer billing for these enhanced AIN services has typically been implemented on Service Control Points (SCP) connected to a Signal Switching Point (SSP). The billing was not performed on a basis of usage of the services provided but on a flat, typically monthly, rate. Flat billing methods lacked the details required by telephone customers. Details requested by customers during a billing period include the frequency of a specific service used and the period of time a particular service was employed. With the increase use of intelligent peripherals in AIN a need exists for a flexible usage-based customer billing and account system with detailed call and detail services. Moreover, a need exists to eliminate the requirement of an SCP for telephony billing services on an IP.